


The Lights That Pass Overhead

by Rainsong



Category: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Genre: F/F, a bit angsty, definitely not happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 22:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1875378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainsong/pseuds/Rainsong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quick fic I wrote with my original characters in the Hitchhiker-verse.<br/>Judith and Sibylle watch the Andusheenian sunrise, light years apart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lights That Pass Overhead

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of inspired by the "Cthulian Sky" story seed on [maxkirin](http://maxkirin.tumblr.com/). Title, obviously, inspired by Night Vale.

_According to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Andusheenian sunrise is truly a sight to behold. The twin suns and wonderful colours of the atmosphere make it a great tourist destination, and if brochures advertising the planet are to be believed, every visitor should take the time to watch it (unless of course they are being chased by the wild greeheegs that forage in the blue grass of the southern hemisphere, in which case one should immediately seek high ground and, if possible, shoo them with soft reedpipe music)._

It took Judith five minutes to get her towel to stay on the rock. It took her another three to get her tablet to stay in her hands and not attatch itself to the magnetized trees that lined the cliff face.

"Has it started yet?" said Sibylle the moment she accepted the connection.

"No. Another minute, maybe," said Judith, setting the tablet next to her so Sibylle could see it as well. "How are things back home?"

Sibylle gave a yawn before answering. "Well, it's three AM, for a start. My gran's birthday was a disaster - again. And Mira's been experimenting with the coffee menu."

"Oh no!" groaned Judith. "Tell me she didn't scrap the jalapeño cappuchino?"

"She tried to! But it's much worse. She's trying to make this week's special a, and I quote, 'frozen triple foam triple sugar vanilla cinnamon chocolate latté with white chocolate flake and a quadruple shot of hazelnut, with optional cinnamon stick'."

"Is there even coffee in that?!"

"I don't know!" laughed Sibylle. "Look, it's starting."

Both girls fell silent. The twin suns crept over the horizon in perfect tandem. With them, the violet sky shifted into blue, as though some omniscient force was playing with the colour picker for the atmosphere. Judith had a perfect panoramic view of it from the cliff she had chosen, and she felt bad that Sibylle could only see in in two dimensions from the screen. Mostly she wished Sibylle could be watching it with her, really with her, and not on her computer screen galaxies away in the little coffee shop on Bedford Street. God, it had been months since Judith had had a real cup of coffee. She would even have settled for one of Mira's drinks - better a little good, genuine Earth coffee disguised by absurd amounts of sugar and heaven-knows-what flavour shots than what passed for coffee out in the backwoods of the Orion Beta star system.

After about thirty seconds of transitioning to a light blue not entirely unlike the one Earthlings are accustomed to, the sky truly lit up. Streaks of orange and yellow played against the clouds, painted by an invisible hand, and the lights of hundreds of starships blinked to life as their inhabitants prepared for another day's work of intercepting radio waves, breaking top-secret codes, and stealing WiFi connections from neighbouring planets.

"It's beautiful," said Sibylle softly.

"Yeah," agreed Judith. They returned to silence as more and more white lights turned on. After two minutes, Judith's content expression became confused.

"There are too many lights," she said. "I can barely see the clouds anymore. Something's not right."

She picked up the tablet, holding it to her chest as she picked up her towel and bag.

"Judith? Are you okay? What's happening?" said Sibylle's muffled voice.

"I'm fine. It's just, I think I should head back to town. Something is wrong here."

The sky was no longer blue. Instead, the streaks of orange and yellow had grown thicker and more luminous, almost as if they were arguing with the white starship lights over who could be brighter. This wasn't normal, Judith was sure of that. Yesterday the sky had been all blue, not a warm colour in sight, besides the suns.

"Judith, is everything okay? You're scaring me," said Sibylle.

"I'm fine! Everything is fine!"

"It doesn't sound fine!"

"No. Okay. It's not fine," agreed Judith. She was almost running now, her towel flying behind her. The sky was getting brighter and brighter, more orange by the moment, and it almost seemed as though the white lights were being swallowed by the orange. Suddenly, her call with Sibylle was interrupted by a communication from, as their screen name stated, the Andusheenian Government. A male voice crackled without an accompanying video.

"Hello there traveller! As you may have noticed, we are under attack from our friendly neighbours the Avexoreans. Not to worry though! We've surrendered, so you're perfectly safe! We hope you enjoy your stay on Andusheen!"

"What was that?!" said Sibylle. "Judith, you need to get off that planet. _Now_."

"I can't!" groaned the other woman. The orange sky was overwhelming now, spilling onto the ground. Judith had to stop running - there was nowhere to go.

"Don't stop! Stick our your thumb, Judith, do something!"

"I can't, Sib, I can't, there's nothing I can do," said Judith, holding back her sobs. She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes, trying to calm herself. "I love you."

"Don't you say 'I love you' at a time like this Judith Moran. You are not gonna die. You are going to stick out your thumb and hitch a ride and come home safe, you hear me?" said Sibylle, who was truly crying.

"I hear you. Right. I- I'm coming home," said Judith, smiling as her screen blurred. She wasn't sure if it was from the tears or the gas, but she couldn't see Sibylle anymore. Shaking, she turned her ring to the "on" position, and lifted her right hand, her thumb outstretched.

"I love you," she said again. She thought she heard the beginning of "I love you too", but then she was losing consciousness, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of the white light.


End file.
